


Burn The Witch

by Shuura



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, M/M, Police Officer Kuroo Tetsurou, Police Officer Sawamura Daichi, Witch Tsukishima, With A Twist, bodyguard kuroo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:29:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26525251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shuura/pseuds/Shuura
Summary: Kuroo gets attacked by a demon, helps a witch and has to re-evaluate his entire life. All in one night. But maybe that's exactly what he needs.
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei
Comments: 6
Kudos: 47
Collections: Luna & Noir: KuroTsuki Fest 2020





	Burn The Witch

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I chose the 103 prompt: Detective/police kuroo is assigned to guard the genius kid who manages to invent something desired by everyone. It was such a fun prompt and I hope you enjoy reading! And forgive for the title, i couldn't find anything that fit better haha
> 
> Mature rating is mostly for Kuroo swearing a lot, be prepared ;D

Getting attacked by a demon is the last thing Kuroo expects as he goes to get a pack of cigarettes tonight.

He’s just about to light a cigarette, convenience store neon lights illuminating his back and the path in front of him.

Then he hears it. A roar, primal and inhuman. Almost like a lion, but with hundreds of human-like screams underneath. Like tortured souls ripping out from the inside of its throat, wanting to get out.

The beast the roar belongs to is standing in an alleyway, right in front of Kuroo. It blends into the shadows as if that’s what it’s made of, only two yellow slits of eyes peeking out, staring directly at Kuroo, unblinking. It doesn’t move, doesn’t breathe - Kuroo wonders if it even can.

A car comes by, lights flashing bright then disappearing. But for those three seconds Kuroo can see what the beast looks like. It has a bulky body, anthropomorphic from the looks of it, standing on two legs, two arms twitching by its torso, like it's waiting to move. To strike.

_ What an ugly bastard _ , is Kuroo’s first thought.

“Fuck,” is what he says out loud, before sprinting down the street, in the opposite of the direction he came from, the lighter and cigarette ont he ground, forgotten.

The beast roars again, the awful sound Kuroo feels drilling through his head and hurting his ears. It lunges after him, on its four legs. Its reaction two seconds too slow. Good. Kuroo can work with that.

Kuroo fumbles to get his phone out of his jeans, not losing the momentum. He turns a sharp corner, hoping this will slow the demon down for Kuroo to finally unlock his goddamn phone and get the right number.

“Goddamnit!” he shouts, when his fingers fumble over the screen, clicking on the Spotify app instead of contacts. He tries to go again but his sweaty fingers slide on the screen.  _ Shit. Shit. Shit. _

Then he has an idea.

“Siri, be fucking useful for once in your artificial existence and call-- oh shit fuck!” He runs into some street party, with weirdly dressed teenagers. Some of them are in their damn uniforms, no older than high school. Some of them look goddamn 12. He resist the urge to threaten to call their parents and if that wouldn’t work he could just whip out his badge and they would scatter like a bunch of cockroaches, gone within seconds. But no. It would be safer to take another route, bypass them completely. Because who knows what the demon can and can’t do. Kuroo doesn't know shit about demons.

What Kurro knows is Tokyo. Every train line and street, he had heard about all of them or been there at least once. The outskirts of Tokyo can’t be any different, right? Things are positioned mostly the same, right? There should be a park nearby, an open space for Kuroo to deal with the beast where no one will be there at this time of night.

As it the streets are a damn maze and Kuroo only knows the area so he can bypass the shopping district and the train station and find the park he vaguely remembers passing by one day. It’s the best plan he’s got now.

He almost jumps out of his skin when he hears the roar again, close, too close to himself. But that means the demon passed the teenagers, thank god.

Kuroo holds his phone up and tries again, “Siri, call Sawamura!”

His legs are his best feature, he’s not gonna lie, but he really let himself go for the past few months. He can feel the exertion already, his lungs and muscles burning, sweat sticking to his whole body, but most importantly - his bangs sticking to his forehead, going in one eye.

But he didn’t have time to hate himself for getting out of shape for long, because Siri said, “Calling Sawamura, “getting it right on the first try for the first time in Kuroo’s life owning an Iphone.

“Good girl!” Kuroo whooped.

Sawamura answers with a sleepy, “ _ Sawamura speaking.” _

Kuroo shouts over the rush of the blood in his ears and the roar coming from behind him, “They found us! Someone send a demon after me!”

A sharp intake of breath. “What about the mark?” Sawamura asks, all previous sleepiness gone, now all business. “Is it safe?”

Kuroo gritted his teeth at the  _ it _ , but got out, “Yes! Safe and secured. This fucking thing is chasing me down. I’m going to the park in the area, don’t know what the fucking name of it is. Send backup! Now!”

“On it. Try not to get killed, Kuroo.”

“That’s the only thing I’m good at,” Kuroo laughed and Sawamura disconnected the call.

He could just about see the edge of the park from around the corner, but he’s been too careless. He’s let the phone call distract him until the demon comes barreling down the street and body-checks Kuroo so hard he flies like a rag-doll and crashes into the pavement, rolling until he is stopped by the street lamp.

The beast charges at him like a bull. Kuroo only rolls away, head spinning from the crash, breathing heavily. The lamp above them flickers once, twice, before it dies down, encompassing them both in darkness.

Kuroo is so screwed. The police academy barely taught him anything substantial, like  _ some  _ of the law. It sure as fuck didn’t teach him how to deal with magical creatures.

But, to be fair, when Kuroo was in the academy, he hadn’t even known things like that existed. He knows about witches. Most people know about witches, Kuroo supposes. But witches are still people. Kuroo knows how to deal with people. But this thing…

He doesn’t even know where to  _ begin  _ with this ugly mug. 

He jumps away again as the beast rushes towards him and crashes into a wall, getting stuck.

This time someone pulls Kuroo’s hand up, getting him back on his feet with a  _ Kuroo-san!  _ only to jump out of their skin at the sound of the growling and the movement up ahead. 

The officer whips out his gun, spine ram-rod straight. “W-What the hell is that?”

Kuroo frowns, spits out blood from his mouth. “It’s a demon, kid. Didn’t they tell you that when they told you to come here?”

“I thought it was a figure of speech!” the guy screeched.

“Oh! Yeah, I see, could’ve been,” Kuroo nods to himself, before jumping out of the way just as the demon pounces again. Persistent fucker. “Sorry, kid, but it’s a real deal. You know what they tell you about witches?”

“Shoot then ask? Don’t let them open their mouths?” Kuroo winces. That’s the police academy for you these days. He can’t believe he was an asshole like that only a few weeks before. “The presentations never cover  _ those things _ , though.”

“The presentations don't cover a lot of things. But you live and you learn. But most importantly - you look and you learn. See how it goes more solid when it’s under the lamp?” Kuroo threw a rock at the beast, only to see it bounce off of its skin. Then it pounced again, submerging itself into the darkness and another rock went straight through its body.

“So what’s the plan?”

“Do you have a good eye?”

“I think so, yeah.”

“Then the plan is simple: you shoot that motherfucker down.” 

It was a work of a witch. Kuroo might have been taught some things about them before but he knew one now in person. He’s pretty sure he knows how they work. They don’t create things out of nothing. There has to be something physical, an object binding the witch and channeling their power to create or summon that demon. And if Kuroo’s guesses are right, then combine that with his experience as a cop and that means every being has to have a weak point. And it’s often in the same places.

“Head. Heart. Stomach. Aim for these and, for the love of Kudo Shizuka, don’t miss and shoot me by mistake, kid. Got it?”

“Yes, sir. But what about you?”

“Someone’s got to make sure the motherfucker stays in the light, right?” Kuroo grinned before he dived in straight into the demon’s path. Just as it passed under one lamp, the officer fired a few shots. But nothing happened.

Another one. Nothing. 

The demon can’t feel, it’s just as if it isn’t living at all. It’s also not particularly angry, it’s just as if it’s designed to look and act the part without actually feeling it itself. Like a doll.

“It doesn’t work!” the kid shouts, starting to panic.

“Just keep trying!” Kuroo has no other plan, so it has to work. He has to finish it quickly and go back. It’s out of the question to even stay here any longer.

With every minute Kuroo gets tired and slower, but the beast doesn’t. Kuroo realises how stupid he was just as the beast snatches him by the ankle and waves him around in the air like a ragdoll. Then it raises him up by the ankle, Kuroo’s head still spinning. It opens its mouth, like a void opening lacking tongue and teeth, releasing one of the roar-screams making Kuroo even more dizzy.

It’s about to eat him - or whatever demons do - but the officer fires again. Six shots. Stomach. Heart. Chest. Head. Shoulder. But then it hits its throat and--

_ Jackpot. _

The demon disintegrates into a puff of smoke, letting out a cloying burning smell. The roar cuts off and Kuroo crashes hard into the pavement. 

For a few long seconds he can’t move. He can still the roar splitting his head open, ringing in his ears. His body is all burning muscles, scrapes and bruises. He can’t catch a proper breath.

“Kuroo-san, are you alright?” the kid asks, going on his knees near Kuroo, carelessly putting the gun down to check on Kuroo’s injuries.

Kuroo just breathes, before he can open his eyes again and, with the kid’s help, sit up. “Yeah, I’m fine. You were great. Thanks,” he says and the kid beams at him. He still has his stupid police hat on but besides that he doesn’t look hurt.

Then their eyes zero in on the same thing that’s close to Kuroo’s sneakers. It’s a small pouch, from the looks of it, with a hole from the gun. It has to be the thing binding the witch and the demon together. 

“What’s that?” the kid asks as Kuroo takes it to examine it.

Kuroo released the contests of the velvet pouch on the pavement. A bone, a flower, a rock, few other things, damaged by the gunshot. Small things that for people like Kuroo didn’t mean shit, but for a witch who soaked those things with all kinds of spells and curses, to the point it summoned a demon, it was the most dangerous weapon. 

Terrifying but also amazing.

“It’s a charm,” Kuroo explains, but the kid gives him a blank-eyes stare. Kuroo sighes. “The witch puts a spell on it and it goes poof, and does whatever they set it up to do.” He frowns down at it. “But for it to work, the witch has to be close enough.” Kuroo heaves himself up and dusts off his jeans. “You’ll have to check the area and find the witch by yourself. Sorry, kid, I have to go back to-”

The kid raises a gun at him, standing up along with him, before Kuroo can finish the sentence. “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, Kuroo-san.”

“Uh, what?” Kuroo frowns. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? I’m your elder and your superior and if you don’t wanna lose your job-”

“It doesn’t matter. Not in this situation. I can’t do that. Please come with me to the station.”

_ Oh _ , Kuroo thinks he gets what this is about. “Am I under arrest, then, officer?”

“Not yet. If you’re going to resist, I’m free to do that. Please, don’t resist. It’s going to be harder on both of us.”

“So you got orders to help me and what? Bring me down to the station?” The kid’s face is so open, Kuroo’s eyes widen. “They told you to keep here as long as you can. Keep as far from- Of fucking fuck!”

It’s almost too easy to twist the kid’s wrist and grab the gun from him. He empties the magazine and throws the damn thing as far as his aching body allows him to. He glares at the kid. “I don’t recommend going after me.”

“It’s my duty and job to-!” Kuroo knocks the kid on his ass and uses his handcuffs to cuff him to a railing, muttering curses throughout, “I don’t have time for this.”

Then he runs. Because apparently tonight is a night of running and sweating and cursing. And hoping he won’t be too late to get first to the person, who he was supposed to protect. The person who, despite all logic, made their way into Kuroo’s heart and now the mere thought of losing him, even to his own people made Kuroo push harder against his own body, his muscles and lungs, burning. 

Just one thought repeating in Kuroo’s mind and pushing him forward.

_ Please be safe. _

☽

Kuroo sees men, undercover but clearly with some kind of military background, watching the house. He has to sneak through the backdoor. And as soon as he gets to the apartment, he knows he’s here first. He can’t seem to get his heart to calm down as he put the key in the lock, because there’s a great possibility that-

“Kuroo-san, what’s going on?” Tsukishima hisses and it might be the sweetest sound on the planet right now.

They haven’t got him. Tsuishima didn’t leave. They’re together. They’re safe.

For now, at least.

Relief rushes to his body at once, when he sees Tsukishima with a backpack and his ratty converse on. They have to work quickly.

“Later, okay? Now we’ve got to leave.”

“Did they find us? Do you know what kind of magic-”

“They’re not witches.”

“Not witches?” Tskishima asks, incredulous.

“No, they’re people. A bunch of stupid fucking-” They stop as soon as they hear the sounds of shouts and the door being kicked open. Tsukishima looks at Kuroo, alarmed. Kuroo just has to think. He’s the plan guy. He might not be the toughest, not the best shooter but he’s always got the plan.

“The roof,” he decides, dragging Tsukishima up the stairs, righting him up as he stumbles over the steps. He doesn’t have his shoelaces tied properly. Let’s hope it won’t be their doom.

Any other time and Kuroo would’ve teased Tsukishima about being so agreeable and letting himself be dragged around by anyone, but especially by Kuroo. Any other time and it would be a chance to make a stupid joke to see the kid let out a snort or a smile.

But there’s not time. No time for teasing and arguing. No time to talk, or even think.

Seven weeks ago they got thrust upon each other with an order to live together. For at least the first two weeks there wasn’t a day they haven’t argued over stupid shit. They were both cagey and miserable, and made each other miserable because there was no one else in the world that would put up with their shit. By week three, they started to be somewhat civil and Kuroo, despite himself, despite all the mental protests, despite all the valid reasons why it wasn’t a good idea, let himself look at this twenty year old  _ kid _ , four years younger than him, and think,  _ huh, you’re not that bad. I’d like more time with you _ .

And now, as they were running away from the world, hand in hand, Kuroo couldn’t help but think,  _ I’m not done yet. I’d like more time with you. _

The door to the roof was closed. Kuro tried kicking it open and throwing all his weight on it.

It wouldn’t budge.

“Come one! Come on! Come  _ on _ !” he keeps muttering under his breath as the steps on the stairs are growing louder and louder.

There isn’t much more time. No time, damnit.

“Wait!” Tsukishima hisses and pushes him away. He takes out a water bottle from his backpack and spilled it over the door handle and lock. He mutters words in a foreign language. By that point Kuroo could recognize it as the language known to no one but witches. The language that, no matter what, to a mere human like him would always sound like a gibberish.

The spell worked instantly. It froze the handle and lock and the entire side of the door. “Try now,” Tsukishima says. “Quick!”

Kuro kicks the door open with ease.

They go to the edge of the roof, looking for a way down. There isn’t any way down. There isn’t even a way to jump and not risk breaking every bone in their bodies. And Kuroo was pretty sure even magic couldn’t fix them up after that.

They are, simply stating, fucked.

Soon enough the doors burst open and Kuroo and Tsukishima can’t even  _ think _ about any other escape plan before they’re surrounded.

There they stood, familiar faces Kuroo thought of as coworkers, some  _ friends  _ even. Blue uniforms, guns out and pointed right at his face. And at the center, at the other side of the barrel, Sawamura Daichi, his superior and probably the closest friend in the force.

Next to him - Daishou, the fucker. Kuroo would bet his entire yearly salary that the asshole tosses off every day to this exact scenario - Kuroo losing it, falling from grace and losing his job in the least graceful way possible. Then there are Tora and Tanaka, both faces grim and disappointed but their hands steady. And even, Iwa, the new guy.

That’s all Kuroo gets from their endless izakaya visits well into the night, from letting them crash at his place when they couldn’t even string a coherent sentence.

Where is that brotherhood they speak so highly about that got them to apply to the police academy in the first place? Does that mean nothing when the orders change? Now Kuroo was the bad guy and they turn their backs on him so easily?

Kuroo grits his teeth. He’s sick to his stomach.

But. There are more important things than his feelings right now.

“What the hell are you doing, Kuroo?” Sawamura says, using his name, addressing him as an equal, despite being his boss and a senpai. “I’ve known you since high school, man. I know you’re not… this. I can get you out of this, though. If you let me. Just let the mark go.”

_ Ah _ . Again with that. Calling Tsukishima  _ the mark _ . Because he’s a  _ witch _ . And witches don’t deserve basic respect.

From the corner of his eyes Kuroo sees Tsukishima’s jaw clench. His hands are palms up, just like Kuroo’s, and they’re trembling. Kuroo cam barely think about anything else but squeezing Tsukishima’s hands in his own and making them stop shaking. To tell Tsukishima that everything’s going to be okay.

But.

Kuroo could never really guarantee that. The whole seven weeks was just Kuroo playing house and pretending he was useful to anyone for anything.

But maybe now. He has a chance to do  _ something _ . He just has to think.

“What are you going to do to him?” Kuroo asks Sawamura, just to get a few more minutes to think of a plan. Another thing Kuroo’s good at, is bullshitting his way out of anything.

Sawamura sighs, but indulges him with an answer anyway. Kuroo didn’t believe their friendship had been for nothing. Kuroo can read Sawamura well by now, despite his stern exterior. “We’re not going to  _ do  _ anything  _ to  _ him. We’re not the bad guys here.”

“Yeah? That’s the same thing your boss told you? And now you’re repeating it back to me to make us both believe it?”

“Damnit, Kuroo. Be reasonable. It was never about me and you. Or you and the mark. We were always going to move him somewhere else, somewhere safe. You were just a temporary bodyguard, an extra protective roommate.”

“Hey, now,” Kuroo keeps his tone light, but even to him, it sounds hollow, “if that’s the truth, why the fuck did you sneak in here when you knew I was busy fighting that fucking demon?” Tsukishima gasps softly at that and Kuroo glances at him and mutters, “Long story.” Then he looks back at Sawamura. “Huh? Why the fuck sneak behind my back?”

Sawamura’s gaze hardens, slowly losing patience. “I don’t need to explain myself to you. I have orders. And I’m going to execute them, even if you’re in the way. So, last chance. You’re with us. Or you’re against us. Your choice.”

Sawamura takes three steps in their way. If he gets any closer, he’ll be within a hand’s reach and it’s going to get ugly. Kuroo has to stop him. Somehow.

“O-okay, man!” he blurts out. “You’re right.”

It makes Sawamura stop. But it also makes Tsukishima whole body tense next to Kuroo. Shit. Does Tsukishima really have no faith in him? Double shit.

“I guess you’re right,” Kuroo says, lowering his arms slowly. Tsukishima had his hands down for a while now, they’re slowly going back to his backpack. “I got too attached. You can’t blame me, I’m a fucking mess, alright? You knew my head’s not right when you gave me the job.”

Sawamura lowers his gun a bit, looking regretful. “Yeah, I- Maybe I shouldn’t have recommended you for this, after… You know, everything. I thought it would be the easiest job, to get you back into it.”

“Yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have agreed to this so soon.” Kuroo nods, his smile sad because it’s the truth. “I have to take some time off, visit the therapist again, get my life in order. And I guess you’re going to take Tsukishima and you won’t let me see him again?”

“Sorry, Kuroo, you know the drill. Say your goodbyes while you can.”

“Can I get some privacy at least?” Kuroo pushes his luck.

Sawamura nods, gestures for everyone to lower their guns.

Kuroo appreciates the small act of kindness.

Kuroo takes a deep breath and turns to Tsukishima. He hugs him tightly before Tsukishima can spit in his face or something. Tsukishima tries to push him off, but Kuroo leans close to his ear and whispers, “Tell me you can magic us out of here?” 

Tsukishima stops resisting. He nods stiffly. His hands latch on the back of Kuroo’s sweaty t-shirt and Kuroo closes his eyes for a second and lets himself breathe in Tsukishima’s strawberry shampoo and out as Tsukishima tells him what to do.

Kuroo reaches into Tsukishima’s backpack to get a pouch from the smallest pocket like Tsukishima told him to.

“Meeting you was the best thing to happen to me.” He kisses Tsukishima's cheek as they part and stares in wonder at Tsukishima’s cheeks getting a small rosy hue. If they weren’t fighting for their lives, Kuroo would probably gush about it extensively and call it the most adorable thing his eyes have ever seen.

But Kuroo has no time to be a sap, so he just thinks about it once and let’s it go.

“Okay, stop with the lovey-dovey stuff!” Sawmura says, looking extensively uncomfortable and guilty. The rest of the team looks equally shifty-eyed.

Kuroo wants to laugh like a maniac.

Public displays of affection and what not. Genius.

“Now!” Kuroo says as he empties the pouch he was holding, splaying something that looked like sand in the air between himself and Sawamura.

In the brief moment before Tsukishima yelled a spell, before noises of guns cocking, Kuroo notices it isn’t sand, it’s something sparkling. Then it changes consistency and turns into fog so thick he can’t see Sawamura anymore.

“Now what?” Kuroo asks Tsukishima.

Tsukishima hugs him again and says, grimly, “Now close your eyes. And don’t let go of me.”

“Huh?” Kuroo says before Tsukishima is pushing them both off the edge of the roof, shouting his spells again, eyes firmly closed.

Kuroo can’t even bring himself to blink. Not when Tsukishima pushes him and not when his feet stop being connected to solid ground. Not when they start falling and a sense of dread begins forming in Kuroo’s stomach.

Not when he can hear gunshots and people getting through the mist. “Don’t shoot! You can hurt the mark!” Sawamura shouts and the gunshots stop.

Now when he sees the stories of the building they spent the last seven weeks, the building they met in - their apartment number 2, fourth floor - keep flashing at the edge of his vision, the ledge they jumped from getting more and more distant.

Not when the only thing Kuroo knows is that it was only a few meters until there will be nothing but an ugly splat on the concrete. He could only hope Suzuki-san from the first floor was a deep sleeper and won’t be scarred for life at the sight of their bodies.

At least the night is nice. It’s the middle of the summer and the moon is full and bright in the middle of the dark sky.

Kuroo manages to curl himself around Tsukishima and tuck his bespectacled scrunched face into the crook of Kuroo’s neck. Kuroo can only hope he will be the first one to hit the ground so he will take the burnt of the fall and Tsukishima will fix his own possible injuries with his witchy mumbo-jumbo and get out of there as quickly as possible.

He still can’t bring himself to close his eyes.

Then he feels a lurch like on the roller-coaster when you ride to the top and now you know you’re gonna go  _ down, down, down _ . But how’s it possible? Kuroo’s already falling.

And they are  _ still  _ falling. Deeper and deeper, despite all logic. And then the moon is getting distant until it disappears in a crack, a portal, _ something open _ they had just fallen through.

And as soon as it closes, Kuroo starts to hear it and see it - all the colors and images and noises and sounds and shapes and sizes. Too loud, too bright, _ too much _ to make anything out of them.

It may sound as the demon sounded, a constant roar and screams all at once, distinguishable from each other. Kuroo screams, and it gets lost in this space too.

And he still can’t close his eyes. He can’t even move. He can only fall.

☽

Then his voice breaks through the silence and before he knows it he’s crashing into the street in the middle of the night, still screaming.

“Kuroo-san! Kuroo!” he hears Tsukishima yell and only then he knows how to make his mouth work and close it. His throat feels raw. How long had he been screaming?

And then Tsukishima’s on Kuroo, too close, squinting, trying to see Kuroo’s face without his glasses.

“What the hell did you do, you idiot?! I told you to close your eyes!” Tsukishima hisses straight in Kuroo’s face. They’re so close and Kuroo sees also something else in his expression - and that’s fear. Genuine fear. “Can you see anything? Can you see me?”

Kuroo can only nod dumbly, sprawled on his back, still dazed. “Uh, yeah. In great detail. I can count every tiny freckle on your face. The vein on your forehead is about to burst. Is that the one we affectionately named Tetsu-chan in my name?”

Tsukishima backs off, hitting Kuroo in the arm, hard. “It could’ve fried your eyeballs! Even worse!”

“What’s worse?” Kuroo wonders out loud, suddenly relieved. “And where the hell are we?

“I don’t know, I can’t fucking see. Where are my glasses?” Tsukishima asks, looking around the ground like he’s Velma from Scooby Doo.

Kuroo notices Tsukishima is in his sleep shorts and now that they’re landed on the asphalt, his hands and knees are scraped raw. Besides that, no visible injuries. At least, Kuroo hopes that’s all of them.

Just as Kuroo finds Tsukishima’s glasses, he also sees something else next to them. Something that suspiciously looks like a slightly curved dagger with a bejeweled handle. Kuroo touches it. So it actually  _ is  _ a slightly curved dagger with a bejeweled handle. 

“Uh, Tsukki?” Kuroo asks, “is that dagger yours by any chance?”

Tsukishima’s on him again, close, so close, almost getting on his lap, gripping Kuroo’s wrist in a vice-like grip. He looks like shit. No, seriously. Pale and exhausted, sweat on his forehead, panicked look in his golden eyes, making them twice as big as before. 

“Don’t tell anyone,” he says. No, pleads.

Kuroo doesn’t understand why it’s such a big deal.

In an attempt to lighten the mood, he said, “Who am I gonna tell, sweetheart? I’m a fugitive now. We both are, I guess.”

“I’m sorry,” Tsukishima casts his eyes down, putting the dagger back in his backpack with great care.

Kuroo lets out a quiet laugh at that. Tsukishima somehow thinks it’s his fault. What he doesn’t know is that Kuroo had been willing to put his ass on the line for Tsukishima by the end of Week 3.

But that might be too intense a declaration for the situation. Kuroo always had the bad habit of getting too involved too quickly. It could be his doom and his salvation. He’ll gladly accept doom if his salvation will be Tsukishima Kei. He’d rather help him and become an enemy of the state than sacrifice Tsukishima to the vulture and never see him again.

As he thinks about how to voice all of that without giving all of his feelings away, he takes Tsukishima glasses from the ground, tries to wipe them with the edge of his t-shirt but he makes it worse.

Eventually, he settles on, “Don’t be sorry. I’m not.” He puts the glasses directly on Tsukishima's nose, trying - and failing - not to find the way Tsukishima scrunched his nose endearing.

“You made it worse,” Tsukishima says quietly. His eyes shift down to Kuroo’s lips and Kuroo forgets how to breathe. “Thanks,” Tsukishima says louder, clears his throat and gets up.

Tsukishima puts his hands on his hips and Kuroo wants to laugh at how ridiculous he looks. His ratty yellow converse, a too big hoodie - Kuroo’s red hoodie - and a pair of sleeping shorts with little daisies on them.

In the end Kuroo laughs. He laughs because he’s relieved and because Tsukishima looks so funny and he’s safe, they’re both safe.

Tsukishima, of course, doesn't know what’s so funny and kicks Kuroo lightly in the thigh, to get him to get up.

Kuroo stands up and squints, trying to make out anything more than the street they’re in. It’s dark as hell. There’s a light half a kilometer from where they are, which was probably a lamp or something. They landed close to another lamplight, but it;s busted and there are shards of glass all over the ground a few meters away. 

Now that Kuroo thinks about it, were they the ones who broke it? Doing their… magic travel?

There are mountains in the distance and a lot of fields.

Well, good thing they didn’t land in the middle of a busy street and got hit by a car or something.

Tsukishima takes out a torch from his backpack. Of course he’s prepared for anything.

That’s the same ratty backpack he showed up to the police station with. The same he clutched in his hands when he met Kuroo. The same he slept with the entire time Kuroo was assigned with keeping an eye on him.

“Oh,” Tsukishima whispers as he shines a light around them. Then he starts running.

Kuroo immediately followed, forgetting his exhaustion for a second. “Tsukki, what the fuck!”

Tsukishima stops as suddenly as he had started moving. He points the torch to the edge of the street.

“ _ Oh _ ,” Kuroo says next to him.

They’re standing in front of a burned down house - or, at least, what’s left of it. There’s a little bit of foundation, some bricks and wood, the bare minimum to know that it had been a big house, in a traditional japanese style. 

It had been Tsukishima’s old house.

Kuroo knows about it from Tsukishima’s file, only the cold hard facts written on paper. Tsukishima’s parents died when he was little. His brother, Akiteru, stayed with him and took care of him. Tsukishima Akiteru was a witch himself and, most likely, he was the one who taught Tsukishima about magic. Then, when Tsukishima was fifteen, just when he was accepted to Karasuno High School, there was an accident. Tsukishima Akiteru died. The house burned down. 

Soon after that, Tsukishima Kei disappeared from the face of the earth.

Only to appear four years later, hunted down by the magic world as well as half the human world, because of what he discovered.

Kuroo’s beginning to put the puzzle pieces together. And that dagger Tsukishima guards with his life is right in the middle of it. It also had something to do with that night, when his house burned down. That’s when Tsukishima disappeared, after all.

But, as it isn’t Kuroo business, he doesn’t ask, no matter how much he wants to.

He knows how pushing Tsukishima out of his comfort zone ends, after all. And right now, the last thing they need is to fight between themselves.

“I didn’t know it’d take us here,” Tsukishima mutters, his voice thick.

“I’m sorry,” that’s the only thing Kuroo can say.

Tsukishima snorts, trying to sound as sarcastic as always. “Why? Did you kill my brother and burned my house down?”

Kuroo jolts in place. “What? No!”

“Then don’t apologize for something you had nothing to do with. Anyway, maybe it’s a good thing we landed here. There’s a small shop up that mountain and a bus stop close. Though, if you have any idea where we can go, I’m all ears.”

“Where even are we?”

“Sendai, Miyagi.”

“Shit.” Kuroo whistles. That’s pretty far from Tokyo, huh.

Miyagi, though. Kuroo can work with that.

“I think I know where we can go. Somewhere we would be able to stay for a while, I think.”

Tsukishima turns a sceptical eyebrow, matching his pace. “Is it a cabin in the woods with no civilization around? Or a private island? We could use one of those.”

“Something even better, Tsukki. It's a summer house. Pretty sweet, it’s on a cliff, has the view of the ocean and everything.”

“Are you rich enough for that?”

Kuroo snorts. “Rude! I totally look like I own a summer house.”

“You look like you barely own an apartment, Goatee-san.”

Kuroo rubbs at his jaw, where he can feel his stubble. It’s already itching and making him all uncomfortable. On the other hand, maybe he should grow it out, put some sunglasses on, it’d make him less recognizable. Kuroo’s not the type of guy that looks entirely different with a beard on, but it’s worth a try.

“Joke’s on you, I actually don’t own an apartment. My best friend’s rich, I’ve been mooching off of him for a while, before… you know, this whole thing. I started looking around for a place of my own. Though I guess it’s out of the picture now.”

“You can always-”

Kuroo frowns. “Don’t even finish that sentence. We’re in this shit together now, yeah? We’ll figure it out.”

Tsukishima nods slowly, though he doesn’t look convinced at all. Kuroo’s determined to prove him wrong, and to keep proving him wrong. He’s not going to abandon Tsukishima just like that.

“Now, come on. I hope we can find some things for your knees. My inner v-ball captain cringes every time I look at them untreated like that.” No matter that his own scrapes probably need taking care of. Tsukishima’s more important now, those knees looked bad.

“Sure it’s not your inner dad? Now you look the part, too.”

“Shut up about my stubble. Or I’ll start to think you’re so obsessed with it because it makes me look even hotter and more mysterious than always.”

Tsukishima’s this close to cracking a smile. But he tries to keep his expression pleasantly neutral as he says, “It does. It makes you look like a sweaty mysterious bearded guy I’d probably cross to the other side of the street if I saw him.”

Kuroo gasps dramatically. “Now you’ve done it! You’re no angel yourself!”

“Yeah, but at least I don’t look like a forty year old creep that sniffs women’s hair on the train,” the little shit says, leaving Kuroo stunned on the side of the road unmoving.

“Oh yeah?” Kuroo looks at Tsukishima’s retreating back. “Better be prepared to pay for that, you little smartass!” He shouts and starts chasing after him.

Tsukishima looks back, startled and starts running away. A laugh, almost like a squeak, slips out of his mouth. 

“I’m so sorry, Kuroo-san! So following down men down a dark street has been your preference all along? Do you wanna sniff my hair, Goatee-san?”

“Oh my fucking god, shut up already!”

But despite himself, Kuroo doesn’t mind the weird exchange, even if it’s at his expense if it makes Tsukishima laugh like he doesn’t have a care in the world. As he casts looks over his shoulder with a grin, checking if Kuroo’s still following him.

And he does. Because how can he  _ not _ ?

☽

The little convenience store is owned by a guy named Ukai. He has bleached hair and looks a bit intimidating. He’s been almost asleep on his feet, but his eyes widen when he sees them coming in.

He recognizes Tsukishima, too. Which made Kuroo want to drag Tsukishima out by the wrist before the guy calls the cops on them or something. But Tsukishima’s looking at the sweets section without a care in the world.

They take everything they wanted, something to eat and drink, and a mini first aid kit. Ukai looks them up and down, dying to comment but stops himself. 

Of course as he’s packing up the last thing in a plastic bag, he apparently can’t help but say, “Are you alright, kid? Long time no see.”

Tsukishima’s surprised to be recognized, but nods and answers politely, “I’m okay. How about you, Ukai-san?”

Ukai looks between Tsukishima and Kuroo, his gaze stopping on Kuroo, distrustful. He better not be thinking Kuroo was some sleazy guy or a kidnapper or something worse.

“Just peachy.” Ukai gives Tsukishima the bag. “Take care of yourself. I’m sorry about what happened with your family.”

Tsukishima’s mouth turns down. “That’s unnecessary but thank you. Goodbye, Ukai-san.”

Ukai sighs and bids them goodbye as well.

Tsukishima’s silent as they march up the mountain to the bus stop. He plops down on the bench, turns toward the lamp light and searches the plastic bag for the antiseptic to treat his injuries.

He huffs, irritated, when Kuroo takes the bag from him and puts it down on the ground. Kuroo raises his knees slightly and prodds it with his fingertip. Tsukishima hisses. But he still lets Kuroo tend to his injuries, his scraped knees and hands, and puts a band-aid on his cheek. In turn Kuroo lets Tsukishima slap a bandaid on Kuroo’s face, pretending to be annoyed.

The bus comes two hours later. It’s 4:30 in the morning.

KUroo jostles Tsukishima lightly who was well on his way to falling asleep. Kuroo has no more cash with him and the driver doesn’t take card - besides, it wouldn’t be too risky to pay with his card when there’s probably an entire Tokyo police on his back now, so he let’s Tsukishima pay for their tickets with the huge stash of cash he apparently has in his magic backpack. 

There’s a long ride ahead of them. A few hours at least. Kuroo will have to charge his phone properly and definitely discuss the plan of action with Tsukishima. Will they have to hide forever? Just as Tsukishima had been forced to, all those years? That’s no way to live.

But Kuroo leaves those worries at the moment. 

Kuroo stretches out his legs between the rows of seats, slides down in his seat, making himself comfortable. Tsukishima’s glazing out of the window, headphones on, eyes dropping. Kuroo promises himself he will only rest his eyes for a bit, but inevitably, he falls asleep.

A weight crashes down on Kuroo’s shoulder, startles him awake. His muscles lock as the memories rush towards him - Sawamura with his gun pointed at Kuroo on that roof, Kuroo’s friends with pity on their faces staring at him, shaking their heads at him, then the feeling of jumping and the weird portal between Tokyo and Sendai. Kuroo’s stomach churns at the very thought of it.

He relaxes gradually, only when he understands what has woken him up. It’s just Tsukishima, fast asleep, tilled into Kuroo’s side, his headphones digging into Kuroo’s shoulder and ear. Kuroo shuffles around a bit and makes them both comfortable, so that Tsukishima can keep his headphones on and keep his head on Kuroo's shoulder at the same time. 

Kuroo yawns, squeezes Tsukishima’s long fingers, now with a few bandaids on, resting on his knee, on those ridiculous pyjama shorts.

“We’re gonna be okay, I promise,” Kuroo whispers into Tsukishima’s hair.

They’re going to be okay. Kuroo was sure of that.

They weren’t alone anymore and together... 

Together they could get through anything.

**Author's Note:**

> \- Funny story is that I lost 5k words of the original idea I had, which was more like Banana Fish-y and it was supposed to be thrice as long. But when I lost it, which was about the first week of August, I got so sad, I didn't want to write it again and I was like one message away from dropping out from the fest, then at least someone would pick up this cool prompt. But then one night I just sat my ass down to write ANYTHING and started with the fight scene with Kuroo and the demon and it got away from me from there and I was able to find the motivation again, yay! I hope I did the prompt justice! ^^  
> \- The world-building is bad in this oh god ahaha, I never really read a story like this but something compelled me to write about modern witches for some reason, and it ended up being this. I have a bit of backstory for Tsukishima and Kuroo, and if it was a bit longer I wanted to include Oikawa and Bokuto and Akaashi, but alas, that would take entirely too long and I didn't have enough time to think much more than the events of this one night. Maybe someday...  
> \- I wanted to have a villain character in this and I was toying with the idea of either Oikawa or Ushiwaka (who was the antagonist of the Banana Fish-y fic that's gone forever now) but I was like, ugh, they're always the villains, I want someone unexpected. And someone who could be a villain not to Tsukishima but to Kuroo, because I chose to write from his pov. And I was like, Kuroo's a cop in this... Daichi is a cop... probably his boss... and the idea of "I'm just doing my job. It's just orders, it's not personal" and I was like HMMMMM, this is juicy. I can't say I ever saw Daichi as an antagonist before so I'm pretty happy with this idea haha, I hope you're not gonna punch me for it, I love Daichi don't worry xD  
> \- And the daggers powers can be unclear. That's because I'm lazy. Nah, but for real, if it was a bit confusing or why does it feel familiar, I was inspired by the subtle knife from His Dark Materials hehe, pls don't sue me. Tsukishima's dagger has also other uses that we won't be getting into rn


End file.
